This summer saw the rolling environmental disaster that is the Curragh Sub Aqua Club criss-crossing the country in its fleet of SUVs to dive the balmy crystal clear waters of the Atlantic.
As an eager trainee (yes I earned that honour in Killary harbour notching up my five dives in the snowbound coastal resort), I have managed a few of these cross country trips;

Killary introduced us 1* candidates to the reality of scuba diving, away from the warm showers of Sandycove, changing in the car park as the sleet gently cooled our overheated bodies.

The Ballycastle weekend saw some beautiful diving, sunburn, not to mention the many benefits of living over a pub. More significantly, it was the spawning ground for an exciting new sport - ESSA. Spurred on by overwhelming support of an NDO, club TO, and a soon to be M3 amongst numerous others, and some typically moderate drinking, three intrepid young trainee divers developed (theoretically) the sport of Extreme Scuba Speed Ascent (formerly known as Ultimate Speed Ascent). ESSA simply involves diving to a safe depth, usually 30-40m, taking a deep breath, fully inflating the BCD, ditching weights and finning furiously toward the light. Extra points are awarded for style, with ‘breaching’ combined with boat landing especially prized, not only for the ‘wow’ factor, but also the easy access to o2. (It should be noted for crossover that ESSA rankings are inversely proportional to CFT & CMAS, ie CFT M3 = ESSA 1* etc.)

Doolin brought more (occasional) sunshine, spectacular cliffs and ravines, a superb birthday BBQ & trad music session, (and a late night breath holding competition, I’ll say no more on that one).

And finally (for me), the fabled Boffin trip. High winds and choppy seas did nothing to hold back the indomitable Neil Bannon. Years of experience paid off as we consistently found sheltered dive sites while the rest of the inhabitants of the west coast battened down the hatches. Mr Bannon showed an unusually soft side over the weekend, gently suggesting on occasion that it would be beneficial to move more quickly towards the boats etc. Après dive, once again the bizarrely talented members of the Curragh displayed their musical wares over a pint or two.

Sadly I won’t be taking part in the Red Sea trip, although I’m sure the sunshine, warm waters and bottle carrying servants will seem dull in comparison to diving Ireland’s west coast.

Newsletter Articles

Notes from the Chair
Curragh Renunion
The “Nasello”, a Sardinian “Guide Me”
Ballycastle Newsletter
Sardinia Diving
Testing Time
Trainee

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